Period 34: Hell's Clock - Part 1
'Hell's Clock - Part 1 '''is the 34h chapter of the Zekkyou Gakkyuu series and 2nd chapter in the volume 9 manga. Premise ''Rui decides to confess her feelings to her childhood friend, Kei. But after he rejects her, she finds the Hell's Clock and uses it to go back in time; but will fixing things come with a price? '' Yomi's Introduction Yomi greets the Readers and asks them if they ever had regrets or felt remorse over a decision they wish they could change. She goes on to introduce something special- but then she sees it's gone and giggles, claiming she should have held onto it better. Summary One afternoon class is about to resume when a group of girls notice their friend Rui just took off in tears for the rooftop. One of her friends reveals that this is because she was rejected by a classmate the prior day. After reaching the roof, Rui collapses to the ground in tears as she angrily tells off Kei for being such an idiot. It took her a lot of courage to confess to him, and now he's avoiding her entirely. She wishes she hadn't said anything so they would still be friends now. Suddenly, a bunch of alarmed crows begin to fly as the clock rings. Her friends curiously discuss this, wondering why she would run off to such a specific place when the other brings up the ''Hell's Clock. When she mentioned it, she noticed how oddly Rui looked before she took off. It is said a ghost girl inhabits the area and if one makes a wish under the clock she will appear and grant the person use of her clock- which is said to freely manipulate time. But in exchange she requests something important to the person. As Rui stares up to the large clock, she remembers the conversation occurring the prior day. She had been shaken when he revealed to them that he has to move due to his father's job transferring him to Hokkaido. Her friends, aware of her feelings for Kei try to convince her to tell him how she feels, and taking their advice she hurriedly spits it out on their way home from school. He apologizes, saying that he can't like her as more than a friend. Since that instance he's avoided looking her in the eye and she's felt horrible. She wishes she didn't confess and ruin everything. As the clock prepares to strike once more, Rui tearfully begs the ghost to grant her wish and take her back to before she confessed to Kei. As she laments believing something so unreal, she observes the black feathers as they float around her, and as she turns around she sees a pocket-watch suddenly drop out of the sky and land near her. Rui is startled as she picks up the clock to see it can float, and she asks that it returns her to the day before. A light flashes and before Rui knows it, she is snapped out of her daze by Kei, who asks if she fell asleep while standing there. While she attempts to collect her bearings, he reminds her that she had something to tell him. Realizing this was when she confessed, she feels around to find the clock is now worn around her neck and tucked beneath her shirt. By now Kei is getting suspicious, but she forces herself to come up with something at the last second and asks that he calls her when he comes to visit during winter holiday. He agrees, a bit concerned by her behavior. However, Rui convinces herself that this is okay, and sooner or later she will forget about her feelings for him. The following day Rui's friends quickly approach her demanding answers. She confesses that she decided not to tell him, and they ask if this is really okay before bringing up how regretful she was in the past when she failed to say something to him; like around Valentines Day when she went and got him a present. Annoyed, her friends point out that there are plenty of girls who have made hasty confessions before, but Rui laughs it off and claims not to feel anything for him anymore. Since it's been decided she's nothing more than a childhood friend, there was no point- not that she tells them that. Suddenly, Kei approaches and tells Rui to write down what she would like as a souvenir while he is away. She finds it hard though, pointing out that he seems really happy to be leaving them behind. He asks if she will get lonely and she instantly denies it and claims to be sick of looking at him, since they grew up together and all. Kei finds this amusing and admits to her that he might get lonely, but this is why he plans on having as much fun as possible; to make sure he won't. Rui sadly realizes that this is how it's always been between them: while Kei looked forward and remained positive, she was always looking back and felt regret. She recalls how he would always manage to cheer her up as they grew, but by now he's probably forgotten those memories they held. Once class ends, a Farewell Party is held for Kei. Rui's friends look on to see that he is actually very popular, and even students from other, nearby schools have shown up to see him off. Meanwhile, Rui has went out to get snacks and she wonders if she bought enough when Kei suddenly appears and startles her. He mentions going to visit the restroom but stops to point out that one of her friends mentioned that she likes someone. She refuses to say, and he claims he would have helped her if he had known about it. She states that she doesn't need help though, and he goes on to ask if it's anyone he knows. He offers to help her by telling him for her, but his attempts at helping her only get on her nerves and she angrily yells at him to stop. She tells him how she will never confess to him, and how he's gone now so she doesn't care. She tells him off, stunned by her words as she recalls the pain she felt prior to obtaining the clock. Kei is shocked by her sudden behavior, but he silently walks away from her and returns to the others. She cries, realizing that she really is only full of regrets. The following day, Rui is woken up by her concerned mother. She instantly remembers having the Hell's Clock and decides she should use it again to fix this newest problem when she spots a couple of flowers on Jiro -her dogs- grave. She asks about them while her mother waters the plants outside and reveals that Kei had come by earlier. As she observes the grave, Rui recalls the past after they had buried Jiro. She had been devastated and blamed herself for not realizing he was sick, but Kei got her to stop crying by claiming he saw Jiro in his dreams. He said he was very happy and had a lot of fun, and his life with without regrets. He takes a flower he had hidden until then and presents it to her, claiming that Jiro asked him to give it to her to make her happy. Whenever she feels sad, Jiro will give her a flower; so she should stop crying and cheer up. Rui sits on her porch and observes the sky as she recalls other past incidents. No matter what she was always full of regret, but she realized something. She may get hurt a lot but if she doesn't move on, things will never change. She grabs something and rushes to the location of the bus Kei will be boarding and yells out to him. She rips off the clock, unaware of the ghost girl watching nearby, and is about to confess as she stands on a road- but to her horror a large truck appears in her path. The truck collides as people surrounding them panic and call for help. But as looks on to find she is out of harms way, she finds the bloodied corpse of Kei in front of her and stares in shock. She screams his name and tries to wake him as the clock, tossed aside is shown to be broken and damaged. Characters *Rui *Kei Mizuhara *Rui's Friends - Natsukawa *Classmates *Yomi Quotes Trivia *This is the fourth story Yomi is directly involved in. **It's the third two-parter story she is involved in. Gallery Category:Manga Category:Chapters Category:Vol 9